ABSTRACT
This qualitative-phenomenological study was conducted to find out the teachers’ perceptions and experiences on the use of guided reading approach as bases for training- workshop. Findings revealed that English teachers viewed guided reading as a reading comprehension approach through an expert facilitator, strategy for independent and strategic readers, and strategy for developing critical reading skill. Moreover, teachers’ experiences revealed that guided reading developed learners’ self-confidence and motivation, developed their vocabulary, comprehension, fluency and decoding skills. It is also an approach that supports independent reading. The deterring aspects on the use of guided reading include time constraints due to overlapping schedules, learners’ unwillingness to attend remediation classes and learners’ lack of foundation in reading. On the other hand, guided reading is enabling when learners reading skills are developed through the years and strong support from immediate and external stakeholders is intensified. Retooling teachers’ capabilities and skills through training- workshop was formulated on the bases of the result of the study.
Keywords: Guided Reading Approach, Perceptions, Retooling, Teachers’ Capabilities
INTRODUCTION
Reading skills benefit a child significantly throughout life. According to Holden (2004), "Reading is an important gateway to social, economic, and civic life as well as personal development." The ability is of utmost significance that it has a significant impact on almost all the learning that takes place in the classroom on a daily basis. It can be challenging to provide one-on-one reading sessions with every student every day, especially during a busy school schedule. This is where guided reading comes in, as it is specifically designed to tackle this problem. Through the use of guided reading, a teacher helps small groups of students learn how to understand texts that are progressively harder to understand (Fountas & Pinnell, 2017).
The capacity to read is essential for an individual's quality of life in a culture where literacy is highly valued (Fountas & Pinnell, 2017). The capacity to read in the classroom is a prerequisite for success if the students are to have greater options for a high quality of life. It is well acknowledged that reading proficiency is a prerequisite for academic success in youngsters. Not all of them, though, are proficient readers; many still find it difficult to learn fundamental skills like phonemic awareness and letter recognition, and as a result, they are slipping behind in their reading levels.
"Early data show a drop in literacy rates post-pandemic," according to Kay (2018), Chief Executive Officer of the World Literacy Foundation and co-author of the book "The Economic and Social Cost of Illiteracy," which supports the urgent need for literacy programs.
The 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that the Philippines obtained the lowest score in Reading out of 79 countries. Furthermore, according to the PISA research, just one in five fifteen-year-old Filipino pupils was able to meet the requirements for overall reading literacy.
As a reading teacher for six years, the researcher believes that illiteracy has greatly affected the learning ability of the learners across all subject areas. It has paralyzed their potential to hone their skills and advance academically because of the lack of basic knowledge of reading and comprehension. English teachers must be equipped with the proper tools to deal with struggling learners to mitigate reading problems.
These observations have led the researcher to determine teachers’ perceptions and experiences on the use of guided reading approach as bases for training-workshop.
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